Chapter 18: Connect-Aaron

Akko and Pikachu woke before the sunrise. They made their way from the dorm with Lotte and Sucy to reach the tower. They opened the door quietly and tip-toed to the bed with Ash and Diana sleeping. Croix stirred herself. She turned to see the door ajar. "I thought I closed it…" she murmured. She looked around to find someone around Ash's bed. She leaned up, a red brassier nightgown barely showing. "Oh dear…" Akko leaned in and kissed Ash on the lips. Diana felt weight on her from Pikachu's arms pinning her hip. She woke to find Akko's kiss to her newfound boyfriend. Akko lifted herself to watch Ash open his eyes. He saw Akko while Diana's arm held his shoulders.

"Akko?" he moaned.

"Morning, lovey-dove!" she cheered. Ash and Diana were surprised to see the Japanese representative with them.

"Atusko Kagari!" snapped Croix. Akko leaped in shock. Pikachu jumped, but into Diana's arms. Akko sweated so hard; it was like rain. Ursula looked over the railing to see Akko panicking. She adjusted her glasses to get a better look. "You broke into the tower just to sneak in a kiss!?"

"I-I wanted to-to gre-eet him this m-morning!" stuttered Akko loudly.

("You used to return me to Ash for that!?") snarled Pikachu. Diana's hold was weak, so Pikachu leaped from her arms to the air. ("HOW DARE YOU!") He shocked Akko with Thunderbolt, causing her to convulse. After a few seconds, Akko looked burnt.

"I'm sorry…" she coughed before fainting.

"Not that she didn't deserve it," Ursula sighed. "But could you turn down the voltage? You practically toasted her." Pikachu sighed, thinking he used too much electricity. Akko recovered for breakfast.

"I believe she was anxious to learn of our date last night," Diana studied on Akko's entrance.

("I know I was,") Pikachu admitted.

"Well, not really," Akko denied. "All I wanted was to return Pikachu… but when I saw Ash's sleeping face, I just couldn't help it!" Ash, Croix and Ursula billowed sighs as well.

"Miss Callists and I did that to him as well," Croix admitted. "But it was more on the cheek." Ursula giggled to the claim.

"Dear…" a bashful Diana hushed. "I've heard that you have treated him like he's your son, Miss Callists, but you as well, Miss Meridies?" Croix shrugged her shoulders.

"Anyway, Miss Meridies and I decided that we'll call Andrew," Ursula spoke. The students and Pikachu wondered about the discussion. "We want you to have a dorm of your own. The other students can stop by and help if you want." Ash seemed curious to the decision.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "If it's to keep the Pokémon out of harm's way, I'm all for it." Akko and Diana awed the choice.

"Thanks, Ash!" praised Ursula. As they got ready for school, Ash heard from Diana on information.

"Anna's returning to the House?" he asked.

"Yes," Diana confirmed. "She wanted to return and search for the will my mother had signed. I have a sneaking suspicion that Aunt Daryl has manipulated the will for her benefit."

"I wondered about what you two did on your date," Akko pondered. "No movie, no picture taking, no walks on the beach?"

("And where is a beach around here?") asked Pikachu.

"Unfortunately, no," Diana sighed. "But I've learned to loosen myself."

"Yeah, you look rather relaxed," Akko noticed. "Still, don't lose focus with classes." Diana giggled and nodded to Akko's advice. As they neared the door, two witches in white robes and witch hats arrived at the school and entered after getting off their brooms.

"Who are they?" asked Ash. Diana's eyes narrowed.

"They're from the Magic Council," she identified. "They wouldn't come to Luna Nova Academy without a reason."

"And what would that reason be?" questioned Akko.

"That's none of our business," Diana refused.

"Besides, we got classes to attend, and Pikachu's going to be with Pisces," Ash added. Pikachu became excited to hear about being in Pisces's class. In the office, Miranda nodded to the witches of the Council.

"I know not to doubt Master Grimiore," she acknowledged. "I will have him in my office soon." The two witches nodded as one left. At one class, Hannah and Barbara were asking about the date.

"Oh, Ash had Beef Wellington?" asked Hannah. "I bet he ate it all!"

"And you took him to the House of Cavendish?" asked Barbara.

"Not to mention that he stood up for me when I felt challenged," Diana added. "Sure, whoever was dastardly enough to record my dance with Ash and put it up on a video site has no respect, but I felt happy to bond with him last night." The students, including Molly and Wangari, awed and cheered for Ash's and Diana's date.

"That makes me wish I could take him out, maybe to Miami," Amanda wished. Constanze showed Ash her text on the tablet.

YOU DRASTICALLY CHANGED HER

"What, would it have changed if I took you?" countered Ash. Constanze shook her head. The witch that left Miranda's office arrived at the classroom.

"Whoa, she's from the Magic Council!" gasped Wangari.

"I am looking for Ash Ketchum," the witch wished for. Ash stood up to face the woman.

"And what would you be looking for me for?" wondered Ash.

"A trip to Headmistress Holbrooke's office," the woman replied. The girls gasped, wondering about why Ash was being sent to the office. Ash realized that it was serious. He and the witch headed to the office where Ursula and Croix also joined. "Here he is."

"Thank you," Miranda praised. "Ash, there's a matter of knowing the tome that you found. I had sent the tome that you found in the library and its origin stems back to a thousand years ago. It has been confirmed by the Magic Council's main Linguistics board. The language in the tome was called Kibanese, the language of Aura. Only one person spoke that language, as well as a few others… and we have strong beliefs that you're the descendant." Ash looked shocked by the news.

"Descendant?" he repeated.

"The tome you found was regarded as the 'Unopenable Book' upon your discovery," one of the Council's witches replied. "However, you unlocked the book with your aura. This means that you have the power of the Aura Wizard of the millennium's past." The second Council's witch nodded before speaking.

"1,000 years ago, a lad named Aaron was founded by the House of Cavendish," she started. "Lady Nightingale ran the House at that time and mothered Aaron who discovered an inner magic about him. In her wonder, she found Aaron to have acquired a magic by use of Aura. It was at that time where her daughter, Easter, and Aaron helped one another in witchcraft. Soon, Aaron developed his aura to become a beacon for the witches of that millennium's past to stop Oboneron. The being from Babylon was sealed away and a barrier was established. Aaron reentered the House but wasn't seen again. Without any help from the House of Cavendish on records from that time, we do not know the whereabouts of Aaron."

"And after your date with Diana," Croix brought up. "There's high doubt we'll be getting any cooperation from Daryl." Hearing the story, Ash cupped his chin to think.

"Aaron, aura, the tome…" he listed. "It all sounds familiar…"

"You mean that you know Aaron?" guessed Ursula.

"I might," Ash shrugged. "Is there a picture of Aaron that you have?" The first Council's witch nodded as she pulled a large picture from her robe. The picture in black and white had a young man had star-like wild raven hair with a roundish chin. Seeing the picture, Ash gasped. "No way! That's Sir Aaron!" The witches gawked to Ash's identification.

"Sir Aaron!?" repeated Croix. Ash nodded to Croix's guess.

"Could you tell us about this 'Sir' Aaron, Ash?" the second Council's witch requested.

"I can try to recall," he prepared. "See, a thousand years ago, Sir Aaron stayed by Queen Rin at the Cameran Palace in my home region of Kanto. He was a young adult by the paintings I've seen at the Palace so that's how I was able to recognize him. Anyway, he protected Queen Rin and the Palace when a war broke out. Sir Aaron and his Pokémon, Lucario, wanted to keep Queen Rin safe when he noticed a problem with the Tree of Beginning." Miranda rose a hand to Ash to stop him.

"Before you go on," she advised. "Is Lucario a Pokémon?"

"Yeah, and it's a good thing I keep my PokéDex on hand," Ash confirmed as he brought out his PokéDex. He hit a few buttons before showing the witches a blue bipedal jackal with spikes protruding from its chest and wrists.

LUCARIO – FIGHTING/STEEL – HT: 3' 11" – WT: 119 LBS. - ABILITY: STEADFAST

"LUCARIO, THE AURA POKÉMON, AND THE EVOLVED FORM OF RIOLU," it computed. "LUCARIO'S ABILITY TO READ THE AURA OF OTHERS HELPS HIM IN MANY SITUATIONS, INCLUDING BATTLES." The Council's witches seemed intrigued with the information.

"Lucario looks cool," Croix awed.

"Indeed," Ursula agreed. "You can continue."

"Right," Ash nodded. "Sir Aaron believed the solution to the war was in the Tree of Beginning. His Lucario scouted ahead to clear a path and even communicated through telepathy and through magical crystals. At some point, Lucario was blinded. Sir Aaron, out of concern for Lucario, trapped Lucario in the crystal on his scepter. Sir Aaron proceeded onto the Tree of Beginning where he sacrificed himself to stop the war and take care of what was hurting the legendary rock formation. Sir Aaron's Pidgeot brought his scepter to Queen Rin where she honored his memory. A thousand years later, my friends and I were at the Cameran Palace where Lady Ilene protects. I happened to have found a replica of the clothes Sir Aaron wore by coincidence. At the festivities, I was given the honor to hoist Sir Aaron's staff. Somehow, Lucario came out of the crystal. He mistook me for Sir Aaron when I realized that he was communicating with me using the telepathy. It wasn't long before Lucario told me that my aura was so similar to Sir Aaron's." This made the Council's witches believe the comparison.

"This confirms it!" the first witch announced. "In your blood is that of Aaron, and his aura is proof that he's returned, though in a new vessel." Ash blinked to the claim made.

"You are the long descendant of Aaron," the second witch confirmed. "Much like you, Aaron was from a different world, only to find himself among and helping the witches with the crisis back then… and now, here you are with the same aura. If what happened before with Aaron involves the House of Cavendish, it may be a good thing that you're here." Ash felt destined with Diana, her aunt and cousins about the ordeal with Oboneron.

"Aren't you a little hasty to confirm Ash as the descendant of Aaron?" questioned Miranda.

"We may," the first witch acknowledged. "And we would need a blood sample to understand the power Ash holds." The second witch brought out a small notepad.

"And I see that Ash is the son of Luna Nova Academy's alum, Delia," she studied. "By chance, this means Ash's father was also a descendant of Aaron." Ash crossed his arms, irritated about the mention of his unknown father. Then, he had an idea.

"What if this is the reason my dad was never around?" he pondered. "That he didn't want me to know about the aura that's been passed down?" The witches seemed to believe Ash had been finding a truth.

"This means that your father and mother created you after finding out about each other," the first witch understood. "Your father must have given himself to your mother to create the next wizard." Ursula felt the pressure may be overwhelming on Ash.

"But is it too soon?" she worried.

"Right now, it's not a lot of time if Oboneron's seal is broken," Croix pointed out.

"It's not that I want to believe what Team Rocket told us back at that town," Ash murmured. "But they have been right some of the times… and seeing their leader with the red eyes and acting all creepy… It may be up to me to lead these witches." Ursula gulped to Ash's determination.

"But Ash," she worried. "Are you sure? This isn't a play date! It's life or death!" Croix snickered to the situation.

"I think I know why you've had Ash around you for so long, mother…" she teased Ursula. "Someone like him is one boy you don't want to lose."

"Croix!" snapped Ursula. Ash chose to finish the story while Anne had a cauldron with ingredients brewing.

"A spell that will quell the magic to become tragic!" she chanted as she poured liquids into the concoction. "Then, he'll lose his cool and become a fool to which he'll be kicked out of school!" As she mixed the concoction into the cauldron, she put a bottle of a pink bottle with a fainted yellow humaniod bee with a large stinger and insect legs for four arms. "I can't wait to fill him with shame!" Back at the tower, Ash and Pikachu were back together with Ash looking over the tome.

"A wizard among the witches…" he realized.

("Sounds like a lot,") Pikachu guessed.

"Well, I still wonder why Mom hasn't told me about Dad since I became a trainer and whether he knew that I was a descendant of Sir Aaron."

("Even after telling me a few times, I still can't believe it.") That's when Ash had an inkling and checked the back of the tome. There was a letter written in English among the language the Magic Council deciphered.

"What's this?" Interested, Ash chose to read it.

WIZARD AARON,
I WANT YOU TO FIND THIS BEFORE YOU GO BACK TO YOUR LAND. YOU HAVE SHOWN MORE AFFECTION TO ME AND THE HOUSE OF CAVENDISH THAT I HAVE BECOME ENTHRALLED IN STAYING BY YOUR SIDE. I WANTED TO BE THE SISTER TO YOU, BUT MOTHER HAS ALSO WANTED YOU TO REMAIN. YOU'VE DEVELOPED A MAGIC THAT CAN NEVER BE USURPED BY OTHER MAGIC. I KNOW AT ONE POINT THAT YOU WANTED TO TAKE ME WITH YOU AND SHOW ME WHAT YOUR WORLD HAS. YOU HAVE BECOME MORE THAN A WIZARD… MORE OF A MAGIC KNIGHT, AND I WISHED TO BE THE PRINCESS TO BE WHISKED AWAY FROM A HOME THAT I WOULD WANT TO EXPAND TO YOUR WORLD, CONTINUE THE LEGACY OF CAVENDISH FOR GENERATIONS AND WITCHES WHO WISH FOR YOU AS DUKE. ONLY THEN, MAY THE HOUSE BECOME A KINGDOM BY YOU.

YOURS TRULY,

EASTER SPRING CAVENDISH.

Ash and Pikachu gasped lowly to the letter left. ("A love letter?") guessed Pikachu.

"Sir Aaron…" he softly cursed while shaking his head then looking to the moon. "You fool…" The night became still as Ash and Pikachu headed for bed, not knowing the chaos that was about to start.

TO BE CONTINUED…
(I'm going to be postponing this and the other current story after the conclusion of the Luncheon Kingdom for a few one-shots. It gives me time to set up the scenes ahead.)